Standing Strong In the Storm: Bible Verses About Hope In Hard Times

When they construct tall buildings, a deep and reinforced foundation must be dug so that the building remains standing if it’s lashed by high winds. Also, they design and construct it so that it has some flex to prevent the building from buckling because of stress from high winds or events like earthquakes.

Our lives are unpredictable. You never know if or when a tragedy might strike you or your loved ones. Economic uncertainty, political instability, fractured relationships, social instability, the possibility of job loss, or health issues are all things that can make one anxious about the future.

Like an earthquake or a high wind hitting a building, these events can come into your life and shake your world. When you’re going through a tough time, or when you’re anxious about hard times that could be on the horizon, hope can make all the difference.

One of the most powerful quotes in popular media comes from the movie The Shawshank Redemption. One of the characters, Andy Dufresne, who’s innocent but has gone through a torrid time in prison writes to his friend Red saying, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

Holding onto hope during hard times is essential to help you carry on. It certainly helped Andy Dufresne to retain his humanity in an inhumane place. That hope, however, must have substance if it is to sustain you over the long haul.

Nothing disheartens or hurts more than being disappointed by a hope that does not pan out. It’s important that you have hope as you go through hardship. Even more importantly that hope should be grounded in a solid foundation to help you weather the storms of life.

Staying hopeful amid hardship

Tough times can be trying, and they can make us cynical, especially when they seem to drag on endlessly. Hope helps us remain tenderhearted yet resilient in the face of hardship. The people in the Bible were not strangers to hardship. Many of the passages, books, and letters that comprise the Bible are written to people that are undergoing suffering of some kind, and they needed guidance and wisdom to remain faithful and joyful in those circumstances.

When you turn to the Scriptures and witness people holding onto the hope of rescue by God, you’re not peering into a world that is safe and predictable, where hope and patient perseverance in the face of suffering were easy. These people faced insurmountable obstacles, they didn’t know how their story would end, and yet they clung to the hope that God is at work on behalf of His people, and t His plans will triumph despite all appearances.

Below are some Bible verses about hope in hard times that can help you to ground yourself when the world seems like it’s falling apart around you.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. – 1 Peter 1:3-6, NIV

The Christian hope is ultimately the hope of a new world cleansed of all that causes pain, frustration, alienation, and death. This hope is a living hope, one that Peter says is closely tied to the resurrection of Jesus.

Just as Jesus’ body was raised from death as a new, imperishable body that could no longer be touched by death, believers also have a hope of the resurrection of our bodies and the renewal of our world (1 Corinthians 15; Revelation 21:1-5).

Our hope is alive because it is tied to Jesus who is alive forever more. Whatever hardship we face, we can remain faithful and hold onto hope because the God who conquered death is working on our behalf.

If our ultimate future is guaranteed in Jesus, then whatever hardship or trials we face here and now can be faced with hope and joy.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. – Hebrews 6:19-20, NIV

This verse again reminds us how closely our hope is tied to Jesus and what He accomplished for us on the cross. Christian hope isn’t tied to a vague sense that things will work out, with “things” implying job interviews, relationships, investments, and so on.

Christian hope looks to the fulfillment of God’s great promises to His people. It also rests on Jesus, upon whom our salvation rests. He has us firmly in His hands as we strive to live lives that are pleasing to Him.

Our hope that God is at work and will complete the work He began within us (Philippians 1:6), and our hope that God will renew His good world and set everything right certainly helps believers become more hopeful about everything else in life. If God can conquer death, can He not conquer a difficult boss or rescue us from a difficult situation?

Our hope in Jesus is an anchor; it holds us steady amid storms. We will encounter storms, and we shouldn’t be surprised when we do. Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus helps us stand firm even when the world crumbles around us.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11, NIV

This verse is often misquoted and misunderstood. It can be misunderstood to mean that God won’t ever place you in tough situations, or that God intends to make everything you do work out without setbacks.

Jeremiah wrote these words to exiles who had been taken from their homeland in Jerusalem and planted in Babylon. God, through Jeremiah, was telling them that they would have to remain in exile, away from their homeland, for seventy years. False prophets were telling the people that the exile wouldn’t happen, or that it wouldn’t be for long, and Jeremiah was telling them that God intended them to stay where they were in exile for almost two generations.

God’s words essentially were that He was taking His people through this difficult time, but His ultimate intention was their good. Their circumstances may not be what they desired, but because God was at work in their situation, they had a sure hope and a future.

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” – Lamentations 3:19-24, NIV

Few of us have or ever will experience what it is like to have a foreign army invade our country and destroy all the important cultural and religious symbols that make us who we are. For those of us who have experienced that reality, it scars you and doesn’t fade from memory easily.

The writer of Lamentations had just experienced the Babylonian attack that utterly devastated Jerusalem. Starvation and disease had wracked the city, and mothers had gotten so desperate that they took the unnatural step of eating their children.

This is shocking, and it’s understandable why the writer speaks of “affliction…bitterness and…gall” which render his soul downcast in him. Amid such deep and heartbreaking devastation that came upon God’s people because of their unfaithfulness, he remembers God’s great love, and that’s what gives him hope.

When we make poor choices and bring negative consequences through our disobedient actions, we can still have hope that because of God’s great love, He will not destroy us. We can look to God and wait for Him to rescue us from ourselves.

Cultivating hope in hard times

Being hopeful may not be something that comes naturally to you. Perhaps you’ve been hurt in life and cynicism seems the right way to respond to the situations you encounter. That approach may seemingly protect you from further pain, but it also shields you from the joy God intends people to have even when they are experiencing trials.

Hope is a good thing. Christian hope faces trials squarely, and it can weather storms because it is an imperishable hope that’s inextricably linked with Jesus, the resurrected One. No matter how dark the night, joy will come in the morning, and so we can hope and hold onto God’s promises.

Practices such as journaling and being intentional about expressing gratitude can help center your thoughts on the good things God has done and will continue to do in your life. Sometimes, help is needed to disrupt unhelpful patterns of thought and behavior such as catastrophizing and dwelling on negative outcomes. These patterns need to be named, and sometimes you may not even realize that you’re doing it because they are second nature to you.

A trained and licensed therapist can help you recognize these unhealthy habits of thought and behavior that rob you of joy and hope. Through techniques such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, those unhealthy patterns and habits of thought and behavior can be identified and substituted for healthy ones that promote wholeness and a sense of hope about your future. Connect with one of our therapists today to discover hope in your life again.